Former Arapahoe County Commissioner Jim Dyer, who played a key role in a controversial $153 million water deal in Arapahoe County, has abruptly left the position custom-made for him five months ago.

It’s unclear whether Dyer resigned or was fired as the Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater Authority continues to grapple with the fallout from problems with the deal first revealed by The Denver Post in March. Two board members recently resigned because of conflicts of interest.

Dyer declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding his sudden departure May 31 as government-relations director. But he left two weeks after The Post requested 4 1/2 months of Dyer’s e-mails to and from a number of individuals, including Robert Lembke, head of the United Water and Sanitation District.

Lembke and United are an integral part of the water deal, in charge of building a reservoir and delivering water rights to the ACWWA. Lembke is considered a divisive figure in Colorado water, using the power of his special district to buy and sell water up and down the Front Range.

Looking out for others?

Some of the e-mails, obtained this week, indicate Dyer may have been looking out for Lembke’s interests as well as the ACWWA’s. Dyer sent Lembke confidential, nonpublic information about a potential project and forwarded Lembke the authority’s internal discussions, including those from an attorney.

Other e-mails show a back and forth between Dyer, Lembke and Lembke’s brother, Ron Von Lembke, on how to best position themselves with respect to the Water Infrastructure and Supply Efficiency (WISE) project. The regional collaboration potentially poses a threat to Lembke’s ability to provide water to growing south suburban communities.

“I’m no longer authorized by ACWWA to discuss their affairs,” Dyer said in an e-mail. “I will say, however, that my past activities were all within the scope of my job as director of governmental affairs and involved public information.”

ACWWA head Gary Atkin refused to say whether Dyer was asked to leave, whether the e-mails played any role in his departure or whether he was concerned about any of Dyer’s e-mails to Lembke, saying the e-mails involved “personnel matters.”

A May 31 meeting with Atkin “resulted in (Dyer’s) separation from employment,” according to a June 2 letter from the ACWWA to Dyer. It does not appear Dyer received severance pay, but he did collect his last two days of salary and any accrued vacation and sick time.

Lembke, who has said in the past that he has known Dyer for years, said Monday that Dyer was his contact person at the ACWWA.

“He has never worked for us,” he said. “ACWWA and United are working closely together. (Dyer) was our primary conduit.”

While an Arapahoe County commissioner, Dyer also was chairman of the ACWWA board and helped negotiate the deal with United.

The Post reported in March that the ACWWA signed a no-bid contract with United and another entity to deliver water to its customers without ever looking at alternatives. The deal was put together quickly and mostly out of the public eye, despite the fact that ratepayers and district taxpayers are on the hook for the bond money.

Although the ACWWA has received only the agricultural rights to the water, it paid United the going market price for water that already has been adjudicated for municipal use.

Reservoir nearby

Additionally, The Post reported in April that the ACWWA is paying United $14 million for a reservoir it never determined was needed, while a nearly empty reservoir a few miles away could store water for half the price. The ACWWA had not put together design plans or cost estimates on how and where the water will be stored there, and how it will be used.

Dyer went to work for the ACWWA in January after his commissioner term ended. Atkin said a few months ago that he hired Dyer for the unadvertised, newly created position because he was a “particular type of person with a certain set of skills with a certain type of abilities.”

From January through the middle of May, Dyer forwarded e-mails to Lembke about internal goings-on at the ACWWA, including details about matters not related to United and correspondence from an ACWWA attorney, that included legal strategy (which was redacted in The Post’s copy).

At one point, he e-mailed Lembke information from a feasibility study for Walker Reservoir, still in the planning stages. That study is considered confidential “work product,” according to the Cherry Creek Public Water Authority, of which the ACWWA is a member.

In other e-mails, he forwarded or updated Lembke and Von Lembke about potential ACWWA water clients, such as Furniture Row, and issues involving the WISE project. For instance, prior to an April 12 meeting in Douglas County, where the commission approved a resolution supporting WISE, Dyer sent both men an e-mail asking whether the three should provide the commission some “educated analysis” on the matter. Lembke has a competing interest in bringing water to that county.

Dyer also forwarded e-mails with pipeline-project details and meeting specifics regarding the South Metro Water Supply Authority, of which the ACWWA is a member.

When Dyer relayed that the SMSA wouldn’t permit Lembke to attend a meeting because it was for board members, Lembke responded: “Let’s discuss. We can have some fun.”